Recorder marker and marker operator



Jan. 1, 1963 c. R. A. JOHNSON ErAL 3,071,772

RECORDER MARKER AND MARKER OPERATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 1, 1959Jan; 1, 1963 c. R. A. JOHNSON ErAL RECORDER MARKER AND MARKER OPERATOR 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 1, 1959 Jan. 1, 1963 c. R. A. JoHNsoN ETALARECORDER MARKER AND MARKER OPERATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. l,1959 Jan. 1, 1963 c. R. A. JoHNsoN E'rAL 3,071,772

RECORDER MARKER AND MARKER OPERATOR Filed sept. 1, 1959 5 sheets-sheet'4 Janl, 1963 c. R. A. JOHNSON ETAL 3,071,772

RECORDER MARKER AND MARKER OPERATOR Filed Sept. 1, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.Patented Jan.n 1, M963 United States Patent ."Qle

` t 3,071,772 RECORDER MARKER AND MARKER OPERATOR Curtis R. A. Johnson,Flourtown, Richard Garvin, Feasterville, Carl R. Ruppenthal, Erdenheim,Morris Joseph, Philadelphia, and Paul B. Binder", North Wales, Pa.,assignors to Leeds and Northrup-Company, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania v Filed Sept. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 837,415

. 3 Claims. '(Cl. 346-68) This invention relates to improvements in'exhibiting devices of thetype employing a strip chart together with anassociated' scale and' pen-index assembly for recording and indicatingmagnitudes of conditions runder measurement.` v v y, It is` an object ofthe present .inventionl to provide a precision instrumentlof unusuallycompact designkand which Vis adapted for th'e measurementofone or morequantities and for' recordingand indicating the magnitude of suchquantities. Y 'A f lt can readily be understood that, as the size ofinstru-t ments of the above character is decreased, there areprej sentedmany difficulties in providing the desiredrugged'- ness-coupled with theneeded precision. Morev particularly, with charts and associated'scalesreduced :to the order ,of four inches in contrast with the largerinstruments with charts ten inches wide, itis necess'aiy todepart fromconventional practice in" the assembly of the various lcomponentsforming the instrument.` Though the above considerations have beenimportant to the instrument of the present invention, neverthelesstheLfeatures hereafter to be explained in detail have advantagesregardless of the size of the instrument.

in carrying out the present invention in one form, the strip-chartassembly for the recorder is supported from a vertically extending mainframe slideably carriedy by a housing and from which frame extends incantilever fashion the whole of the operating mechanism.. Thismechanism'includes -the supply and takeup rolls for the chart, one ormore `pen assemblies each of a design particularly adapted to theinstrument of the present invention and including a pair of conicalbearings supported between the arms in a U-shaped end of a frame, thepen-bearing member having extending therefrom springwire elements, onespring wire being disposed on one side and the other on .the othersideof the bracket member normally to bias the pen-carrying element in apre determined position and for appl-ying to the pen a predeterminedforce when the4 pen is moved into engagement with the chart. t

For further ,objects and advantages of the invention up roll; and

2 trating 'a number of'selected features including the man-` ner in.which the chart may be withdrawn from the sup! porting plate forinspectionof any selected length thereof; FlG.'9 is` an enlargedfractional sectional view of 'a pressure-producing assemblyV associatedwith the take-vr FIG. l0 is a diagrammatic view showing the path yof thechart through the instrument. l A Referring to the drawings,particularly FIG. 1,'thev invention has been shown in onefor-mas appliedto an exhibiting instrumentltl of the X-X type, that is` to say, one inwhich there may be indicated and recordedl simultaneously magnitudes of`two variables. Thus, the lp cn 11a forming a part of :a pen-assemblyincluding an index 11b records and indicates the magnitude of avarivableas shown `on achart 135 byA the trace 14 and as ap# pearing onthe associated scale 15. Similarly, a pen 16a forming a part of apen-index assembly including antinvdex 16b produces a trace. 17 `on thechart'and an indicationof rthe magnitude thereof on'the scale 18. Thechart 13- inElG. l moves downwardly and beneath a f tear-ofi bar 19. Thechartisdriven by atiming motor, later todae described, by means of pins20a projecting from a chart roll 2l). through circular openings ofthechartj13. g It it be'desired to remove asection of the char-tfrom i 'theinstrument, a chart-liftingileverv 21 is grasped near and for detaileddescriptionsof other'useful and novel kw features, reference is to ybehad rto vthe following description taken yin conjunction with. theaccompanying drawv instrument` with the cover view of the instrumentwith 'the housing omitted; g

FlG. 3 is a sectional side view taken on Ithe line 3-3 of FIG. 2 of theupper both pens in view; l A i FIG. 4 isa side elevation taken in thedirection of the arrows4-4ofFlG.2; l f f FIG. 5 is jan isometric viewvof one of the pen-assemblies-and associated supporting members;l .1..

FIG. 6 is an isometric yviewofanother of` the penassemblies partly insection togetherwithits supporting members. i u l,

- FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the-jchart-supporting and t drivingrollers, the` chart having been jomitted;

por-tion of therecorder butwith FIG.l 8 is an isometric view of selectedpartsillus- Si 'the lowerend' and pulled outwardly. This pulls a lengthof chart Vfrom the take-up roll'f With a length of thecha'rtfthus.pulled` forward, the fingers may be inserted behindv thechart to pull from the rolls any selected 4length. Thus the past recordmay be pulled below the tear-oit bar`19 to sever it intok the pattern ofthe bar. l Thisprovides the upper part of the chart with a symmetrically'shaped 'end having a leading center portion and angularlyextending-side portions. This shape facili-1 vtates the' threading ofthe chart. l 'Th'e chart-lifting lever 21 is Vinthe form of a round wirememberv generally of U-shape and with outwardly extending e'nd portions21a andw21b which extend through openings Ain a mainframe member '29 anda sub-frame 24.v The lower cross bar of the U-shaped pull-out member21"extends toward the rear of Vthe instrument as viewed in FIG. l sothatV it nests beneath a back-up plate 26 disposed directly behind thechart and thus the cross -portionlis removed from the path of the chart.The chart assembly as a whole is mounted within the hou-sing 28, beingsupported therein in cantilever-'fas`hion `from kthe vertically'extending main frame member' 29.

.As Will be later explained in` detail, all 'partsof the asL 'sembly arecarried by this single mainframe member llt will be noted that the chartback-up plate 26 is integral with thesub-frame 24, the parts beingvconnected ythe right angle bend therebetween.

The 'instrument 10, FIG. l, may be utilized 1alone or K .together with acontrol-point setter. Where the 'control- ,point setter is included, itwillhave associated therewith an` index 31. Thus the index 31 may, bysuitablemeans such as a gear '32, be moved to a selected position alongithe scale I8 to indicate the magnitude of the condition .to bemaintained by ,a controller. ',In the illustration of FIG; 1, there hasnot been utilizedy the'control feature just described. The control-pointsetter forms the subject ymatter of a co-pending application Serial No.837,412., iiledSeptember 1, 1959, now Patent`2,980,876.

Referring now. to FIGS, 2, 3 and 5, it will be seen that the `index 11bis the pointed down-turned end of al mein- `ber 11ml which'is spotvwelded or otherwise secured to-a pivoted support 33. This support orlbearing member 3 s Y has conical ends nesting within two openings of apair of resilient arms 34a and 34b formed of athin channelshaped sheetmetal member 35, the narrow sides thereof forming the support for thebearing member 33. Extending rearwardly from bearingnmem-ber 33 are apair of springmembers 3'6 and 3'73which are ,preferably formed of aU-shaped piece of spring wire passed through holes in member 33andsuitably secured as by cementing ,the bottom of the U to member 33.Each spring member extends into overlapping relation with the webportion of channel mem-ber 35one member 36 being disposed on the uppersurface of the web portion of member 35 and the other member37 beingdisposed ,adjacent the lower surface of the web portion. The upper andlower surfaces of channel 35 are provided respectively with indentationsor recesses 35a and 35b which are adapted respectively Vto receive thespring membersl 36 and 37,

FIG. 5. In this manner the index 11b and pivoted mem-` ber 33 are biasedto a fixed and predetermined position with respect to the pen carriage.More importantly, the

penK 11d is likewise `biased to a fixed position inasmuch as the penitself is formed by a capillary tube extending through and secured tothe pivotcd member 33. Ink is fed to the capillary tube and to the pen11a by way of plastic tubing 38 which extends downwardly into an inkreservoir ,40 having till and vent holes41 open to atmosphere. Thechannel-shaped member 35 is carried b`y a bracket 42, itself pivotally'and slideably mounted on va rod 43 which isnconnected to framemembers29 and'24. The bracket 42 is provided with elements 44 which arespot welded to the web of Vchannel member 35. The ink reservoir 40 issupportedfrom a depending end, FIG. 3,

To this extension 52a there is pivotally secured a member 16, theV11p-turned portion 16b of'which forms the Itwill be noted that beyondthe above-described index. v pivot pin 54 the member 16 has a dimple16d, FIGS. 2,

.3 and 6, which is arranged to .rest within a slot 52b, FIG.

2, tomaintain thememb'e'rl alignmentwith the pen 16a during measurementoperations. In FIG. 2 themem- Iber 16 isfsho-wn swung to the left toexpose the pen which of a frame the intermediate portion 62c of which iscutV away inFIG. 6. The subassembly including the lower guide rods 46and 61 is pivoted on the upper rod 43fin order lthat the pens may belifted from the recording paper when desired.. The normal 'position forthe sub- Y assembly will be with thepens engaging 'the "recording paper.To provide downward or counterclockwise movenient o f the subassemblyas' viewed in FIG. 6, for automatically restoring the lifted pens tonormal position, an arcuatelysha'ped spring 64 is secured to anup-'standing arm of side member 62h. The arcuate spring 64 is ary rangedtobe displaced by engagement with a pin V63 on of `bracket; member 42.The ink reservoir 40`is provided witha triangular-shaped extension 40dwhich extends through a similarly-shaped opening,lFIG. 5, in thedowntur-ned portion of bracket 42. The` triangular-Shaped extension 40dyhas overhanging edges so as to interlock-with the triangular-shapednotch inthel down-turned portion of thebracket 42. In order topredetermine the position of the carriage of the pen-index assembly,that is* to say, the position in a substantially horizontal plane of thechannel-shaped member 35, the down-turned portion of bracket 42 isprovided with an adjustable plate 45 having a bifurcated endwhich isslideahle with respect to a pen lifter` guide rod 46.. By loosening thescrews there may be relativelyadjusted the Ibracket 42 and the plate 45to produce proper orientation of the parts. d The carriage including`bracket 42 and channel member 35, FIG. 2, is translated by means of adriving cord 47 driven by a balancing motor, not shown, and threadedover `pulleys 348 `and 49, the driving cord 47 being secured to bracket.4t2 by a clamping member 50 and associated screw. The driving motor andthe associated measuring 4system may be of the type shownin.Williams"Patent 2,113,164 or inWilliams Patent 2,367,746. v l Thepen-assembly, so far described, including the index 11b may -be utilizedalone and without the needof a second pen-index assembly for indicatingand recordingjthe v l magnitudes of av variabler condition. However,,the exhibiting instrument of the ,present invention lends itself `tothe ,inclusion of the second pen assemb1y`,UFIG; 2, vincluding index`1f6rb andthe associated ,pen 16a. In FIGS. Yand 3, Vit may: be observedthat the parts are 'of quite -similaryconstruction the principaldifference b'e'ingthat ,the channelmember 35m is shorter than thecorrespondingNme/mber 35 of the pen assembly Vshown at the left in 2. Inorder to provideclearance for the, assembly shown attheright relative tothe assemblyshown atthe kleft so that they ,may pass eachother,- it willbe noted, particularly, in FIG. A3, `that themchannelmember 35m islocated at a lower level than `the correspo`ndin'g member 35. 0ntheotherA hand, the index16bl is located above theindex .1`1`b. `Thisisaccoinplishedby means of a` bra'e'ket sa which .extends behind the.ink, reservoir 4o and upwardly terminating ina ii'at bracket 'extension52a.

side wall of housing 28, FIG. 6, when the assembly is slid FIG. f1. u

' The upper rod 43 and its counter part ber 24.` Also assisting in thesupport of member 24 from member 29 are rods 70 and71 which are rigidlysecured to both members. rIrhe rods 68, 70, and 71 act aslguidesfori'the chart. To provide additional `bracing forlfth'e subfr'amemember V24, there is secured thereto a bracket 72, FIG. 2, `whi`chextends angularly toward and is secured to a bracket (not shown)fastened to the main frame member 29 (at a point not shown). Y

Y' Referring now to' FIGS. 4and 6, it will be 'observed that lthesubassembly including the side member 62h is shown pivoted on the rod 43as explained above. The

member 62bl has an outward extension .62d 'arranged in cooperativerelation with a spring-wire member 73, FIG. 4, secured to .subframe 24by screws 74. Y The upper end of. the spring member73 is preferablyprovided with several notches. The lower notch on which-the extension62d is' resting seryesto bias the carriage assemblies downwardly.However by lifting' on the extensionZd, Ythe i assemblies mayy beliftedupwardlygthe extension- 62d fthefn resting in the upper notch'to holdthe assemblies'ingtliel raised'position with the pens 16a and 11a inspaced rela,- tion to the chart drive roll 20. 3` 'f Referring'now toFIGS. 4'andV 7, the chart-supply roll is carried on a stationary rodV81, FIG. 7, which 'is mounted a flange sleeve 82 having outwardly bentspring elements 82a for engagement `with the hard core on which thechart is wound. Thel outerl end of rod 81 has 'an enlarged cylindricalend 81b on which the arm `or bracket 84,1pivotally carried on ashoulderof rod 71. Intermediate thejends ofthe arm 184 is a pressureinto operating position inthe housing `28 as viewedin 6s, FIGS. 2 and 4,are rigidly secured to the main 'frame member 29 and the I subframe 24.This subframe 24 includes the `chartmsupcylindrical hard core of thesupply roll 8'0 `may rotate'.v It will be observed that the `end of-rod81 is threaded to receive a Afastening .screw '83, `FIG. 4, arranged tohold in place an i 5 V biased away from arm 84 by a series of spring,spokelike, elements 86. The re-wind roll for the chart is formed b y afibre cylindrical core 83, FIG. 9, having a .slot 88a, FIG.V 7, arrangedto receive a driving lug 89 carried by a flange sleeve 90 which isrotatably mounted on a tixed stud shaft 91 supported in cantileverfashion from main frame 29. The flange sleeve 90 is driven by a belt 92from a drive pulley 93 which is secured `to a gear 94 meshing with adrive gear 95 and which through suitable reduction gearing is driven bya timing motor 96. The driving gear 95 also drives a gear 97 whichserves to drive the chart-drive roll 20 carrying the drive pins 20a.

There has been shown in FIG. l the manner in which the chart 13 isthreaded from supply roll 80 downwardly and across rod 68, thenceupwardly across the guide plate 62o, which through its reversecurvature, guides and holds the chart 13 adjacent the chart-driving roll20. The chart then extends downwardly along the front of the back-upplate 26 across the rod below and across the rod 70, and it is guided bythe rod 71 to the take-up or rewind roll 88. The pressure disc 85, FIG.9, is pressed toward the outer end of the fibre core 88. The core 88 isof a length slightly less than the width of the chart, so that there isassurance that the pressure plate or disc 85 will engage the chart as itis wound on the re-wind roll and hold the further edge thereof againstthe flange of sleeve 90. This is desirable to produce a neatly rolledchart when re-winding. The re-wind roll 88 is driven as by belt 92, FIG.7, which may be a coil spring riding on metal pulleys for establishmentof a limited amount of torque on the take-up roll 88. This provides anoverdrive, that is to say, provides a speed of rotation for the core 88great enough to maintain the chart taut and provide additional slippageas the diameter of the chart on he take-up roll increases.

As explained in connection with FIG. 1, and as shown in FIG. 8, thevertically disposed main frame 29 is adapted to be slid into the housing28 which is provided with guide brackets 98 and 99 to hold frame 29snugly against a side wall of the housing. For ease in removing the-indicating instrument from the housing, there is provided a handle 23which has a lower arm 23a extending through the rods 70 and 71 and anupper arm 23b extending through an inturned ear on mainframe 29. Theinner ends of members 23a and 23b are threaded to receive nuts whichengage respectively the inturned ear and the rod 71 for withdrawal ofthe instrument from the housing 28. During normal use, the pull handle23 is pushed inwardly and is concealed behind a door (not shown) byreason of the outwardly olfset intermediate portion as illustrated inFIG. 8.

The manner in which the chart pull-out rod 21. disappears during normaluse is best shown in FIG. 8. It will be observed that the inturnedintermediate section is disposed to lie in the space between the lowerend of the chart back-up plate 26 and the chart guide rod 70. In thisconnection it is to be noted that the lower portions of the rod 21 arebent outwardly from the backup plate 26 for ease in grasping it to movethe chart outwardly from the back-up plate. 'Ihe re-winding roll 88 willpermit adequate slippage of the chart to provide the necessary slack,and it likewise can be pulled from the supply roll 80. In this manner,there may be easily selected the lengths of chart to be inspected or tobe removed from the instrument in the manner already set forth inconnection with the tear-off bar 19, shown in FIG. l.

By reason of the several features heretofore discussed at some length,there has been produced an exhibiting instrument unusually compact,reliable in operation, and capable of high precision in the measurement,control,

indication, and recording of the magnitudes of one orV more conditions.By providing the main frame 29 for the cantilever support of all of theprincipal component parts, including the driving motors (not shown), thearrangement lends itself to use with other components which may beincluded within or outside of the housing 28. Since the main frame 29provides the sole support, it will be understood that the brackets 98and 99 may be located at any desired position on the side wall ofhousing 28, thus to leave room for other rsubassemblies to be locatedbelow or above the recording instrument above described in detail.Similarly, by locating as many parts as possible on and adjacent theupright main frame member 29, room is provided in the housing 28 forother components which may in similar manner be slid from the oppositeend and/ or side of the housing on a second upright plate similar to theplate 29.

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to thespecific invention shown and'that changes and modications may be madewithin the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a strip-chart recorder including a chart supply roll, a take-uproll, and a drive roll, the subcombination comprising marker means forthe chart including a capillary tube one end of which is adapted toengage the chart, said capillary tube being rigidly secured to a pivotalsupporting element having its opposite ends provided with bearings, acarriage having arms adapted to receive said bearing ends of saidsupporting element rotatably to mount said capillary tube on saidcarriage, said carriage having an intermediate portion disposed betweensaid arms, said intermediate portion having retaining structure disposedrespectively on opposite surfaces thereof, and resilient members securedto said supporting element and normally disposed one on one side and theother on the opposite side of said intermediate portion of said carriageand engaging said retaining structure to bias said capillary tube in apredetermined position relative to said carriage, said resilient membersallowing relative movement between said capillary tube and said carriageas said capillary tube is moved into engagement with the chart.

2. In a strip-chart recorder including a frame, said frame having meansfor supporting thereon a supply roll, a take-up roll, and a drive rollfor a chart, the subcombination of a marker assembly including markermeans engageable With the chart to provide a record thereon, a carriagefor supporting said marker assembly, means extending transversely of thechart for pivotally and slideably supporting said carriage, meansincluding a swingable frame for rotating said carriage and thereby themarker means of said marker assembly into and out of engagement with thechart, a housing for said recorder, means for supporting said frame forslideable movement of said recorder into and out of said housing, andmeans supported by said housing and coacting with said swingable frameto move said carriage and thereby move said marker means into engagementwith said chart upon movement of said recorder into said housing.

3. In a strip-chart recorder including a frame, said frame having meansfor supporting thereon a supply roll, a take-up roll, and a drive rollfor a chart, the subcombination of marker means for said chart rigidlysecured to a supporting element having bearing means, a carriage adaptedto receive said bearing means of said supporting element to mount saidmarker means for rotation about a horizontal axis, resilient memberssecured to said element and normally disposed one on one side and theother on the opposite side of a portion of Said carriage to bias saidmarker means in a predetermined position relative to said carriage,means extending transversely of the chart for slideably and pivotallysupporting said carriage, and means rotatable about a horizontal axis tomove said carriage about said pivotal supporting means thereby to movesaid marker means relative to the chart, said resilient members limitingmovement of said marker means about the horizontal axis of itssupporting element lbearing means to permit raising and lowering saidmarker means from and into contact with the chart.

References Cited in the le of this patent Caldwell Nov.l 18, 1952 MassaApr. 12, 1960 FOREIGN PATNTS France Oct;

2. IN A STRIP-CHART RECORDER INCLUDING A FRAME, SAID FRAME HAVING MEANSFOR SUPPORTING THEREON A SUPPLY ROLL, A TAKE-UP ROLL, AND A DRIVE ROLLFOR A CHART, THE SUBCOMBINATION OF A MARKER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING MARKERMEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH THE CHART TO PROVIDE A RECORD THEREON, A CARRIAGEFOR SUPPORTING SAID MARKER ASSEMBLY, MEANS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THECHART FOR PIVOTALLY AND SLIDEABLY SUPPORTING SAID CARRIAGE, MEANSINCLUDING A SWINGABLE FRAME FOR ROTATING SAID CARRIAGE AND THEREBY THEMARKER MEANS OF SAID MARKER ASSEMBLY INTO AND OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THECHART, A HOUSING FOR SAID RECORDER, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID FRAME FORSLIDEABLE MOVEMENT OF SAID RECORDER INTO AND OUT OF SAID HOUSING, ANDMEANS SUPPORTED BY SAID HOUSING AND COACTING WITH SAID SWINGABLE FRAMETO MOVE SAID CARRIAGE AND THEREBY MOVE SAID MARKER MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENTWITH SAID CHART UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID RECORDER INTO SAID HOUSING.